CARDIFF, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Wales hailed a heroic performance as they scored five tries and defended superbly to beat New Zealand 35-28 on Saturday and end a 73-year wait for a win over the All Blacks.
The shock Nations Championship triumph was a massive fillip for the game in Wales, which had been reeling after a record-breaking run of 18 successive defeats following the last World Cup.
Although they won three of their last five tests, Wales had mustered only five victories in 32 internationals over the last three years.
"The effort that the players and staff have put in over the last 15 months or so, they got what they deserved today. It was an unbelievable performance from the boys," Wales coach Steve Tandy said.
"We spoke about attacking, building the performance and being brave and I thought the boys were, probably over brave before halftime, but they had intent to go after the game.
"When New Zealand were coming back at halftime it would be easy to doubt yourselves, but I thought the last couple of minutes they looked really composed."
Captain Dewi Lake said not having to face up to reporters after another defeat made a pleasant change.
"We got asked a lot of questions last week about performance. We had a lot of tough conversations. It's nothing this group doesn't deserve. Steve talks about performance a lot. That's why when you get it right, the result takes care of itself."
Wales beat Japan 28-21 last weekend in a far from convincing performance.
"I'm always proud of this group. I'm not proud of this group because we've beaten New Zealand. I'm proud of the tough times and the good times they've been through," Lake said.
"Of course, we believed we could do it. Sometimes we can say that and it's a passing comment for people at home. But we meant this."
(Writing by Mark Gleeso; Editing by Ed Osmond)
